


Nasturtiums

by NoelleLilacNotte, Yiiiiikes



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: A lot of them - Freeform, F/M, First Date, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Ghost Shenanigans, Hippies, Klaus’s Cult, Oneshot, Pining, Possession, awkward dorks, background Klaus/Reader if you squint, destiny’s children, literally just good things for Ben: the fic, pure fluff, reader is one of the cultists, set in Season Two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:27:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26769484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoelleLilacNotte/pseuds/NoelleLilacNotte, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yiiiiikes/pseuds/Yiiiiikes
Summary: Klaus owes his brother a favor, and what better way to clear up debts than to let said brother possess him so he can hang out with his crush?
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Nasturtiums

**Author's Note:**

> Nasturtium flowers symbolize passion, courage, strength, happiness, joy, and elation.
> 
> They also taste like peppers.

Klaus had, decidedly, done a lot of stupid, dangerous shit in his life. Most of those things were drugs, but every now and then he’d surprise himself by inventing a whole new kind of stupid and dangerous activity to waste his time on, sometimes several in a row.

Recently he’d gotten himself caught in an unfortunate string of ideas that seemed like good ones at first, but now that he’d actually attempted them, it wasn’t going so well. Most notably, accidentally amassing a huge following that seemed to love 90’s songs almost as much as he did.

And then sleeping with half of them, adopting the other half, and whatever the hell he’d done to fuck up Keechie.

Ben would normally have told him off by now, called him an idiot and demanded he make things right. For some reason though, he was seeming a little extra distracted lately.

Especially around you.

You were relatively new to the cult, and decidedly less obsessed with Klaus and his "teachings" than most of the people around you. You were quiet, but not shy, and kind. Above everything else you were kind.

Often times when Klaus saw you you were trip sitting your fellow Destiny's Children, or cooking something for them. Once he recalled seeing nearly everyone in the group lazing around in the garden with you while you picked flowers and braided them into peoples hair. 

You'd put violets in Klaus's hair, not that he remembered that particular detail. What he did remember from that evening was how Ben pouted and sighed and watched the exchange from his place in between flower beds.

He also remembered you snapping at one of your fellow cultists for pulling their flowers out, before sitting them back down and redoing the braids tighter.

Klaus had laughed at that moment, not just for the fact that such an innocuous-looking hippie kid had forcibly jammed love and peace down the throat of another innocuous hippie kid, but also for the fact that for the first time since he’d moved into the mansion, he was seeing defiance.

Maybe if he was lucky, he’d get run out of the compound and forgotten about completely.

Another round of sighing pulled Klaus out of his musings. 

“Lighten up Benerino, it’s waffles for dinner tonight.”

“Why would I care? I can’t exactly eat them.”

"Because my dear boy, we are going out on the town! Gonna have ourselves a little party for three!"

"Three?" Ben looked away from the window he'd been staring through longingly (Klaus thought that he looked like a sad puppy when he did that).

"Three!" Klaus cheered, swinging open the door to one of his many closets filled with strange, gaudy clothes. "I've decided to do my sweet brother a _favor_ and...how should I say...let you use me as a vessel to get freaky with that girl you've got the puppy eyes for?"

“Puppy eyes?! I haven’t been making... _puppy eyes_ at her!”

“Ok, goo-goo eyes, whatever! The point is, I’m never going to get any peace around here with you constantly moaning and sighing about how she’s never gonna notice your spectral ass.”

“So...you’re gonna try and conjure me a body around her? Won’t that...y’know, freak her out a little?”

“Oh, oh, you misunderstand me! No, I don’t have the strength or the energy to keep you corporeal long enough to go on ghost dates and get your ghost dick wet.”

“Oh. So...?”

“ _Possession_ , Ben, c’mon, catch up already!”

Ben’s shock quickly morphed into a giddy, gleeful expression, like he was Klaus about three years ago, about to dive headfirst into a two-ton bucket of cocaine.

“You’re serious?!”

“Ayup.” Said Klaus, popping the last syllable for emphasis.

Ben turned to look out the window, quickly spotting you sitting in the grass with a book, paying no mind to your surroundings, completely unaware of what was transpiring inside.

Klaus leaned over Ben's shoulder, focusing less on the scene Ben seemed so invested in outside, and more on his lovestruck ghost bro. 

"I gotta say Benny boy, you have good taste!" Klaus said. Ben turned away from the window to scowl at him. "What? It's a compliment! I wouldn't expect a ghost virgin to know how to pick em!"

Ben rolled his eyes. As much as he loved his brother, Klaus couldn't shut his mouth to save his life.

"Thanks for this." Ben said. The sincerity of the thank you was too much for Klaus to acknowledge, so he simply waved it off.

“So...” Ben started. “You ready?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just...don’t fuck with my hair while you’re in the drivers seat, ok?”

“Deal!” 

With that final word, and a rush of blue supernatural electricity, Ben dove headfirst into Klaus’s body, shoving his consciousness into the back of his own mind to take control. 

Holy _shit_ was Texas a lot warmer than he thought it would be.

Ben opened his (Klaus’s?) eyes, suddenly wholly overcome with...well, everything. Colors were so vibrant, the carpet was so thick, the linen of his shirt was so soft, the smell of flora and patchouli overwhelming, and the sound of cicadas and people outside buzzed in his ears louder than anything he could remember.

He brought his hands to his head and was floored at the sensation of hair in his fingers. It was suddenly amazing to Ben that Klaus didn’t do that all the time.

He thought about what it might feel like to touch _your_ hair, and he reveled in the butterflies the thought gave him.

Ben did his best to sneak through the house without being spotted by any of the cultists- if any of them saw him and started flirting the way they all did with Klaus, he thought he might just up and die a second time. 

He made it nearly all the way to the yard without being stopped, but his lucky streak ended as soon as he stepped outside, immediately bumping into someone trying to go indoors. In an incredibly unfortunate turn of events, that someone was you.

You were far smaller than Klaus, that in combination with Ben's overeager walking speed resulted in you being flung back into the grass like a ragdoll.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Ben said, wanting to die all over again just to get out of this situation.

You just laughed, not bothering to stand up. After a moment, you stopped, seeming confused. Ben awkwardly forced a laugh at that, just in case his lack of glee was why you were confused.

You patted the grass, and Ben gladly sat next to you. The feeling of the little blades poking his ankles above his shoes was confusing to say the least, but it was...nice. Yeah. Nice.

You gathered a handful of flowers from beside you, and Ben noticed the tipped-over, now half-full basket laying at your feet. You must have dropped it when he ran into you.

“Oh, shit, sorry, let me help you...” 

You shrugged, popping one of the little orangey-yellow flowers into your mouth and offering him one from the basket. He cocked his eyebrow at you, suddenly worried that you may be a little more far gone than he’d previously thought.

“What? They’re nasturtium blossoms, they’re edible. And kinda peppery.”

Ben took a flower, and hesitantly bit into it.

He was suddenly very aware that he had completely lost his tolerance for spicy food.

You laughed and Ben could feel it and if he wasn't already smitten he absolutely was now. The feeling of your arm bumping his as you laughed was the first real human touch he'd experienced in a very long time. It was hard to tell if that was the cause of the heat his face was engulfed in or if it was all that stupid flower.

"Oh my God, it's okay if you don't like it you can spit it out!" You giggled, as Ben did his best to gracefully spit the flower out into the dirt.

"I was- I was not expecting that to be so spicy." Ben said. He was tempted to lick his hand just to get the taste out of his mouth, but then he recalled that these were _Klaus's_ hands, and frankly he didn't want his tongue (technically also Klaus's) anywhere near them.

"You ate that pepper rice bullshit I made the other day and that was like five times as strong as these things. Are you okay?" Although your tone was quite obviously teasing, it brought Ben to a halt.

You didn't know that you were speaking to Ben and not Klaus. If the date went well would Ben have to watch you pine after _Klaus_ instead of him? How could he possibly explain any of this to you without scaring you away with the utter absurdity of it all?

“I’m...uh, experiencing a lot of new sensations today.”

“What, like, shrooms?”

“Not exactly...ok, this is gonna sound super weird but...just stay with me, ok?”

You nodded.

“I’m...not Klaus.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re Klaus, I have yet to see anyone else here confidant enough to pair a linen shirt with chucks.”

“No, no, ok...so, ghosts, right?”

“...uh huh...?”

“I’m one of those!”

“Wait what?! Klaus, you died?!”

“No, no, Klaus is alive! I’m not Klaus, I’m a ghost, and Klaus let me possess him for a little while!”

“Ok...so...ghosts are real, and you’re one, but Klaus isn’t, and you the not-Klaus-ghost is using his body to walk around and talk and stuff?”

“Yes!”

“Cool, Meredith owes me a week of dessert!”

“Huh?”

“We had a bet. She doesn’t believe in ghosts.”

"Is that really what you're taking away from all of this?" Ben asked, but he couldn't help smiling just a little bit. Of course you would be ready to just _accept_ that Ben was a ghost, you were living in a cult! Albeit, a cult that you didn't really seem to take very seriously.

"Yep! Tomorrow I'm gonna go tell her that ghosts are real and she can shove it and I don't care if she tattles on me for having bad vibes because it's the truth." You stated, always firm in your resolve to not let the groups boring non-confrontational attitude affect you. You held up another yellowish flower, raising it up in the air to compare the color to the deep oranges and reds of the Texas sunset.

After a moment of examining the flower you handed it over to Ben.

"You don't have to eat that one," you teased. "Welcome back to the land of the living my ghostly friend, I hope you enjoy your stay." With that you stood up, not bothering to dust off the dirt and grass all over you.

"Where are you going?" Ben asked, scrambling to get to his feet (damn Klaus and his long skinny easily tripped over limbs.)

"Inside? I figured you'd like a minute to yourself to you know. Have grass between your toes or watch the sunset or do whatever's keeping you from passing on or something."

"No, no I don't, you can stay!"

"Wait so what are you like, here for then? As far as I'm aware ghosts don't usually possess people just to sit around and hang out. I could be totally wrong though! I admit, this is not my area of expertise!"

“It’s...a long story. Klaus and I are kind of...connected? He owed me a favor, and I missed being alive, so he let me get to feel like I am!”

“How sweet!”

“I guarantee you he’s hiding a down side from me, but honestly? I don’t care.”

“Well, that’s refreshing.”

“What is?”

“You are!”

Ben chuckled shakily. For as avoidant as you seemed when it came to other cultists, you were amazingly sociable with him. 

It made him feel special, for good reasons this time.

“If you don’t mind me asking...how’d you end up here? With Klaus and uh...” Ben gestured vaguely to a small group of Klaus’s other followers. 

“I’ll tell you, but don’t laugh!”

“I won’t, I swear!”

“My dad wanted me to get a business degree.”

"What?" Ben laughed, _you_ a business major? You ate far too many flowers for that kind of thing.

"You said you wouldn't laugh!" You cried, pushing Ben back into the grass and sitting down across from him, failing to hide your own smile.

"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing _at you_ I'm just- I can't even imagine you working in like a cubicle or something." Ben said, pushing himself back up off the grass, which must have been cut recently because the smell of it was absolutely overwhelming. 

"Neither can I! He said he'd only pay for college if I went to the school he chose _and_ I studied business. So I just kind of left. Hitchhiked my way down to here and... I don't know, just ended up drifting to wherever I could get a roof over my head." There was no sadness in your voice as you told Ben your story, but he felt like he had to comfort you anyways. Unsure of what to say, he tentatively took your hand in his.

Your gaze flickered from your joined hands up to his face. Up until now, Ben had forgotten that he could feel his face heating up when he blushed. The heat in his cheeks combined with the warm evening air and your hand in his was a dizzying combination. 

"What about you? I know you said you and Klaus had like, a soul bond or something-"

"Not at all what I said, but continue."

"What's your _deal_ ghost friend? What's your story? I don't even know your name man, gimme something to work with here!"

“O-oh, right.” Ben mentally slapped himself. Of course he would spill the whole ghost thing before his actual name. “My name’s Ben.”

“Well hiya Ben, nice to meet you. How’d you end up playing backseat driver for this nutjob?”

“He’s my brother, actually. I died when we were little, he kinda...attached himself to me. I’ve been with him ever since.”

“That sounds like it sucks.”

“God, you have no idea.” Ben groaned. 

You laughed again, and Ben could _feel_ your body shake as you did.

“Hey, I have an idea.”

“Oh?”

“Since you’re so recently un-deceased, I’ll bet it’s been forever since you’ve had anything to eat.”

“Twenty years, give or take.”

“Wanna go raid the cherry trees in the garden?”

“That sounds amazing.”

You tugged him along by the hand, looping around and behind trees and makeshift structures so nobody could see the pair of you sneaking around the garden like rats in a pantry.

The trees were beautiful. Little pink and white blossoms lingered around dark red cherries, looking shiny and sweet as ever.

You jumped up into the nearest tree and scaled it with ease, giggling slightly when Ben tried to mimic your movements and nearly fell down a couple times. 

Once he’d gotten himself balanced on the large branch you were sitting on, you pulled a couple cherries off the branch above you and popped on into your mouth, passing the other one to Ben.

“Here you go! It’s not spicy, promise.”

Ben bit down on the little thing softly, annoyance evident when he spat out the pit, though he was still on the verge of tears from the nostalgic feeling of actual food in his mouth.

“You’re sweet, mister ghost pal.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. And I think, we should hang out again sometime!”

Ben smiled, not really caring about the pink blush that was most certainly showing on his face.

“Yeah. That sounds perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ben is never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you.


End file.
